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#3 Frenkie de Jong - FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong is easily one of La Liga’s best midfielders. Sadly, the Dutchman is yet to emerge as the midfield general Barcelona are desperate for.
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Against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, Barcelona needed their star man to fire on all cylinders. Instead, they only saw the shadow of the 24-year-old’s former majestic self.
Starting on the right side of midfield, De Jong had no luck penetrating Atletico’s stubborn backline. He moved to the left hoping for a change of fortune but, once again, returned empty-handed.
His passes were accurate, but vertical progression was nowhere to be seen. The former Ajax man only completed one dribble, had no shot on target, miscontrolled the ball twice and failed to create a single chance.
The match against Atletico was arguably his worst performance in La Liga this season, a reflection of the poor form he is currently enduring.
#2 Nacho Fernandez - Real Madrid
Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez has long been the club’s most trusted fourth-choice centre-back. With Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane gone, he has become one of the first names on the team sheet this season. But the results have not been flattering.
The Spaniard has been poor in almost every La Liga match this season, contributing to most of the goals Real Madrid have conceded. On Sunday, Espanyol capitalized on Nacho and Eder Militao’s lack of positional sense to score the opener in the first half.
For their second, which turned out to be the winner, Aleix Vidal nutmegged Nacho before beating Thibaut Courtois at the near post.
Nacho’s versatility is invaluable at Real Madrid, but in his current state, he is nowhere close to the player his teammates need him to be.
#1 Memphis Depay - FC Barcelona
Following the departure of Lionel Messi, La Liga side FC Barcelona needed to bring in a dependable goalscorer who did not demand a ludicrous salary. Memphis Depay, who was a free agent at the time, was brought in and has been one of Barcelona’s first-team players.
He salvaged three points for Barcelona in the first three La Liga games, showing what he was capable of on his day. Against Atletico Madrid, he, unfortunately, had one of his worst days in a Barcelona shirt. Thanks to Atletico’s strong command in midfield, he did not have any support from his teammates and cut a frustrating figure.
A couple of good passes he provided were not capitalized on, and he himself only had a single shot on target against Atletico in La Liga.
